The 50 worst commutes

Jstas

So U.S. News ran a story where a study took GPS data to determine what the 50 worst commutes are.

From the article:

More than merely expensive, long commutes are mentally debilitating. They're also completely, absolutely avoidable. With that in mind, The Daily Beast set out to determine, for the second consecutive year, which cities have the worst commutes?and specifically, which stretches of road within each city experience the worst congestion.

To find America's Highways from Hell, we started with newly released data from traffic-tracking firm INRIX, which culls data from 4 million vehicles nationwide using GPS units and a smartphone application.

We pared and ranked our top 50 worst metropolitan areas for traffic for 2010 using INRIX's Travel Time Tax?the percentage of time it takes to navigate the area's roadways during rush hour compared to uninterrupted travel periods. Los Angeles, no surprise, fared the worst, with a TTT of more than 35 percent. Then, using INRIX's analysis, we culled:

The worst corridor or bottleneck: A bottleneck is typically less than 3 miles long while a corridor is usually more than 3 miles. A corridor is a stretch of consecutive bottlenecks that experience significant congestion. While many larger metropolitan areas have corridors, smaller areas have only bottlenecks and experience relatively brief periods of congestion.

The rush-hour travel tax for the worst corridor or bottleneck: The Los Angeles section of the Riverside Freeway has one particularly bad stretch of about 20 miles. With a Travel Time Tax of 183 percent, it will take the average driver 183 percent more time to travel this stretch during rush hour than during uninterrupted travel periods. TTT is the price the driver pays for using the corridor during rush hour.

Average minutes per mile: At a rate of 65 miles per hour, driving a mile should take just under one minute. Not so on the Highways from Hell. A single mile on some of these roads can take more than four minutes to drive during the worst rush hours.

Do you drive one of America's Highways From Hell?

You can find the full list here:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-08/50-worst-commutes-americas-highways-to-hell/full/

I'm kinda glad to see The Surekill Deathway in Philly (I-76) gets recognition in the top 20 at number 18. It really belongs in the top 5 'cause the only time it's not congested is at 3am. It's backed up even on weekends. Sucks.

exalted512

Awesome, I-35 is listed 3x. Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin.
-Cody

treitz3

I can agree with LA. We flew out there and got a rental car a couple of years back. From picking up the car to arriving at our destination 45 miles away, it took us over 5 and a half hours.

treitz3

Daggum, I know it's bad but I don't think that this would have ranked #31.

#31, I-485 Eastbound, Charlotte

Worst corridor: Tryon Street/Exit 1 through NC-51/Exit 64
Length of worst corridor: 5.3 miles
Rush hour travel time tax on worst corridor: 131%
Longest rush hour travel time on worst corridor 11 minutes
Time per mile during longest rush hour travel period 2.14 minutes

Commuter Buzz: "(I-485) is too much of a stress, too much of a hassle," said John McLean, a Charlotte resident who goes out of his way to avoid the Interstate. Local leaders are aware of the problem. According to Rep. Becky Carney, a Charlotte Democrat and House Transportation Committee chair, "the No. 1 complaint we hear from citizens is congestion."

The congestion runs the opposite direction of the route I take in the mornings and evenings but whenever I hit it going with the congestion, it takes WAY more than 11 minutes. More like 45 minutes on a good day. If there's an accident? Plan on being an hour or two unless you can get off the belt quick enough. I remember it taking me 45 minutes to go from the Matthews exit up 4.3 miles to the Pineville exit [Hwy 16, next available exit] and this is about 6-7 miles away from where they are talking about. Had I stayed on the loop, I would have been at least two hours.

NotaSuv

treitz3 wrote: »

Daggum, I know it's bad but I don't think that this would have ranked #31.

#31, I-485 Eastbound, Charlotte

Worst corridor: Tryon Street/Exit 1 through NC-51/Exit 64
Length of worst corridor: 5.3 miles
Rush hour travel time tax on worst corridor: 131%
Longest rush hour travel time on worst corridor 11 minutes
Time per mile during longest rush hour travel period 2.14 minutes

Commuter Buzz: "(I-485) is too much of a stress, too much of a hassle," said John McLean, a Charlotte resident who goes out of his way to avoid the Interstate. Local leaders are aware of the problem. According to Rep. Becky Carney, a Charlotte Democrat and House Transportation Committee chair, "the No. 1 complaint we hear from citizens is congestion."

The congestion runs the opposite direction of the route I take in the mornings and evenings but whenever I hit it going with the congestion, it takes WAY more than 11 minutes. More like 45 minutes on a good day. If there's an accident? Plan on being an hour or two unless you can get off the belt quick enough. I remember it taking me 45 minutes to go from the Matthews exit up 4.3 miles to the Pineville exit [Hwy 16, next available exit] and this is about 6-7 miles away from where they are talking about. Had I stayed on the loop, I would have been at least two hours.

11 minutes

lol 45 min is much more like it.....I am amazed how that stretch backs up and stays that way for hours and hours....

treitz3

Yeah, there information is kinda screwed. The actual location of the backup starts at the I-77 corridor and goes until just beyond Johnston Rd. Not From Tryon to 51.

Jetmaker737

Mine made the list. Fortunately there is a little detour that can shave 10 - 20 minutes. Not used by many folks either, thankfully.

#8, 1-405 Southbound, Seattle

disneyjoe7

What Orlando didn't make the LIST!

xj4094dg

That stretch of the 91 freeway is NOT in Los Angeles. Its Orange/Riverside county.

I know this stretch well as I used to commute from Palm Desert to Tustin (about 100 miles each way :frown:). It was hell and I don't miss it at all.

I have been working from home for many years now and absolutely love it.

Instead of sitting in traffic for hours every morning I'm working in pajamas and slippers with some fresh-brewed coffee and homemade breakfasts.

bobman1235

Most stretches of highway are referred to by their closest metropolitan area, not necessarily the exact city they're in.

Toolfan66

Is there a good commute when going to work???

Jstas

bobman1235 wrote: »

Most stretches of highway are referred to by their closest metropolitan area, not necessarily the exact city they're in.

You're kidding!? :eek:

treitz3

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

Is there a good commute when going to work???

Absolutely. I experience it everyday. All the traffic heads the other direction and is basically a 5-6 mile parking lot. Meanwhile, I'm headed the opposite direction at about 70 miles an hour, window down, stereo blarin' just enjoyin' the horses runnin' while the sun comes up.

Life is good.

Jstas

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

Is there a good commute when going to work???

Yes. I had an awesome commute when working as a rifle range director for a camp. I had to go to training for two weeks before it all started and the training was up in PA. My commute was up River Rd and then through some local mountains roads up just north of Kutztown to a local gun/hunting club. That commute was a blast! Twisty mountain roads in my friend's MG or a lowered mini-truck with sticky rubber. Especially on beautiful late spring/early summer days and the top down on the MG!

dragon1952

They have obviously not had to commute on I-15 between the city of San Diego and the North County area of Escondido. Much worse than many they have described.

Jstas

dragon1952 wrote: »

They have obviously not had to commute on I-15 between the city of San Diego and the North County area of Escondido. Much worse than many they have described.

Your perception doesn't necessarily equate to fact. Who knows? maybe your favorite commuter hell doesn't make the cut because it's relagated to number 51 'cause it's not good enough?

BlueFox

#9, Bayshore Freeway (US-101 Southbound), San Jose

Worst corridor: Fair Oaks Ave. through De La Cruz Blvd.
Length of worst corridor: 4.2 miles
Rush hour travel time tax on worst corridor: 172%


Try it when the Sharks have a home game (7:30 PM start). It seems to be twice as bad.

sda2mike

i had a sales territory from northern delaware to NE philly...the worst road was 676..the schuykil (sp?) expressway...this is just outside of philly and it follows all the turns of the aforementioned and possibly mispelled river for which it's named.

Jstas

sda2mike wrote: »

i had a sales territory from northern delaware to NE philly...the worst road was 676..the schuykil (sp?) expressway...this is just outside of philly and it follows all the turns of the aforementioned and possibly mispelled river for which it's named.

The Surekill Deathway, number 18 on the list. And it's I-76. I-676 is a spur route for getting to the Ben Franklin Bridge and down through Camden to the Rt42. Through Philly it's known as the Vine Street Expressway. In Camden, it's the North-South Freeway.

Correct spelling: Schuylkill Expressway

Don't feel bad, I live in the area and I spell it wrong all the time.

treitz3

That sounds and/or looks too much like the Sure Kill Highway. I don't think I'll be taking that road anytime soon, no matter how you spell it.

zombie boy 2000

I don't even have to look at the list. If Atlanta isn't in the top 5, I'll do 127 push ups... right here, right now.

Jetmaker737

zombie boy 2000 wrote: »

I don't even have to look at the list. If Atlanta isn't in the top 5, I'll do 127 push ups... right here, right now.

Well drop and start pumpin' cause Atlanta shows up at # 21.

tonyb

We made #10, should I be proud ?

zombie boy 2000

I made it to 83 and my arms gave out. A thousand pardons.

treitz3

Drink 12 beers, donkey slap your other half and all will be forgiven.

dkg999

Chicago in at #10. Winning!

dragon1952

Jstas wrote: »

Your perception doesn't necessarily equate to fact. Who knows? maybe your favorite commuter hell doesn't make the cut because it's relagated to number 51 'cause it's not good enough?

Going by the criteria they listed and the fact that I did this commute for 15+ yrs I'd say it's more than my perception